


Seeds of Discord Part 34

by kbj1123



Series: Wonder Woman & Captain America [35]
Category: Captain America - All Media Types, Marvel, The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types, Wonder Woman - All Media Types
Genre: Action/Adventure, Adventure & Romance, Crossover Pairings, F/M, One True Pairing
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-03-27
Updated: 2015-03-27
Packaged: 2018-03-19 22:49:08
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,762
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3627180
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kbj1123/pseuds/kbj1123
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Someone or something is causing violent riots to erupt all over the U.S., and whatever it is, it wreaks havoc with both Wonder Woman's health and Bruce Banner's ability to keep his rage in check.</p><p>Steve is having a supremely bad day...but all is not lost, as long as love and compassion prevail.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Seeds of Discord Part 34

Steve goes to the weight room instead of his office, but there are too many people there. To be fair, most of the people are there because he ordered them to go, so he swallows his irritation and beats a quick retreat before any trainees see him. He doesn’t feel like finding a sparring partner. Or to be more accurate, he’s afraid he’ll hurt whomever spars with him. So he makes his way to the older part of the building where the boxing equipment is kept, intending just to hit things for a while. When he opens the door though, he can tell something isn’t quite right. “Diana?”

 

She steps out of the shadows and goes to him. She is wearing her Wonder Woman gear. She doesn’t say anything. She just smirks and holds a brown paper bag out to him.

He feels a little faint and remembers that in his desire to pout, he forgot that he needed to eat. Super Soldier metabolism means having to keep stores of energy constant. Diana hasn’t forgotten that either, however. In the bag are a turkey sandwich and a bottle of water. He shouldn’t be so annoyed that she’s right. What’s wrong with him? “Thanks, honey,” he tells her and takes the food from her. She leads him to sit by the raised sparring ring and waits for him to say something. The fluorescent lights overhead buzz and crackle, and only light up the immediate area of the boxing ring. The glare bounces from her tiara into his eyes, making him squint.

“So was there a non-police related crime? Another riot? Is Eris back?” He asks, gesturing to the costume. She smiles. “No. It’s just that you’re in a…” she trails off. He can tell she’s searching for the right idiom. “Funk?” he suggests. Diana nods. “I thought we should talk but knew you might prefer to spar. I wanted to get here before you did. There was no time to change into workout clothes.”

He can’t help relaxing a little bit. In fact, he realizes he’s smiling back. “You’ve got all the angles covered, don’t you?” he jokes. He finishes off his sandwich and takes a few swallows of water. She doesn’t reply. She stands up and climbs into the ring, and holds her hand out for him to join her. “I don’t think there are gloves here that’ll fit you, sweetheart,” he says. Before he can say anything else though, all the air huffs from his lungs and he doubles over. “I am Diana, Princess of Themyscira and the greatest of the race of Amazonian Warriors,” she growls. “I am a goddess. I do not require gloves, human soldier.” She takes a classic boxing stance. He doesn’t have long to think about the fact that Diana *never* refers to herself as a princess or a goddess; that in fact, she is the first to correct others when they refer to her that way. She renounced those titles. Steve can only guess that she’s waiting for him to stop wheezing, which only takes a second or two. For the next thirty minutes, he does his best to not hit or punch his wife. He knows this is why she’ll rarely spar with him. He just can’t bring himself to hurt or even pretend to hurt, the person he loves most.

Eventually though, he lunges forward and kicks her legs out, causing her to fall backward. When she cries out and winces, he immediately goes to her though. It’s a trick. As soon as “Uh-oh, did I hurt you” comes out, she bares her teeth and head butts him backward. “Are you ready to have a conversation yet?” she asks as he takes a moment to see straight. “That was not fair, Diana,” he replies. From his semi-supine position on the floor, she towers over him. “I asked you a question,” she replies firmly. He nods and reaches for her extended arm. Instead of allowing her to pull him up, he yanks her to the floor and grapples her into a wrestler’s hold. She laughs that deep, throaty laugh whose sound normally reverberates down into places that make him want to do things other than fight. It’s the second indicator that something isn’t quite right. Diana isn’t quite Diana. This isn’t her fighting style. She wriggles free from his grasp, squats over him, and pins his hands to the floor over and behind his head. “Talk yet?” She asks again. Her face hovers over his, and her breastplate is only about an inch from his chest. “No way,” he replies. 

She leans down and kisses him hard, with her mouth closed. He clenches his jaw and tries to push her away, but he can’t. That’s number three, he decides. Four, really. This woman is not his wife. She doesn’t smell right, her lips are rough and not quite the right shape, and although Diana is unnaturally strong, he can push her back. She finally breaks off the kiss. “Who are you?” he asks. He narrows his eyes as if trying to see through a veil. He starts to sit up, only to realize he can’t move. 

Before she can reply, the locked door crashes in, and he hears Diana’s voice. The voice is angry, and it is speaking in a language that is not quite Themiscrian and not quite Ancient Greek. The only word he clearly recognizes is “Eris.” Even though he can’t move, Steve hears the click of Diana’s boots…her *real* Wonder Woman boots, as she nears the ring. Then he sees a shadow and the weight is off is chest and arms. He hears a body whoosh across the ring and land with a loud thud. “Don’t try to move yet,” Diana commands. It isn’t a problem, really. He can’t even roll over into the corner. Diana drags him by the armpits and props him up against the ropes. She throws her body over his to shield him as Eris lunges at them. “Close your eyes,” she tells him. 

So he complies because, in truth, his eyes won’t quite focus anyway. What the hell did Eris do to him? How did Diana even know to come here? For that matter how did Eris know? How did Eris know to bring food? Okay, most people know that part, he supposes. His mind is the only thing that seems to move ably all over the place, and he tries to focus. Maybe there’s something to Bruce’s mindfulness training, after all. Freakin’ Bruce. Ugh.

He hears fighting: flesh hitting armor and flesh. One of the women cries out, and he hears a liquid, ripping sound. Something snaps…bone? Both women are still standing. They are shouting at each other in a language that he can only describe as primal and ancient. He wonders if this is the language of the gods. Time passes. One of the women screams and something explodes. It feels as if a half-dozen flash-bang grenades have gone off, and even with his paralyzed body and closed eyes, Steve feels as if his bones nearly shatter and liquefy. 

He doesn’t know how much time has passed when he finally feels solid again. He knows Diana is there. He senses that spicy-sweetness on her skin and on her breath when she leans around to kiss his temple. He doesn’t try to move yet; he lets her support him, as if he were a life-sized ragdoll of himself. It is definitely his wife’s sweet, authoritative voice that tells him, “Relax, we’re out of danger for now.” He listens to her debrief someone—Coulson? It sounds like Coulson’s voice asking questions. She says, “Can’t the doctors wait, Phil? He’s fine. He’ll be fine. Please?” Coulson grunts something and three figures get up and leave. “Get him home,” Phil tells Diana. He opens his eyes and outlines of things gradually focus. There is a gigantic crater in the middle of the boxing ring. 

They sit there alone for a while. Diana runs her nails across his brow and through his hair. She hums a soothing tune he knows she loved as a child. She moves his elbows and wrists around in circles to keep his circulation moving. “Thank you,” he eventually manages to squeak. He wiggles his fingers and toes on his own and sits up to face her. “How long?”

“Eris and me fighting? A few minutes. You recovering from her attack and then the explosion as she escaped? A couple of hours.” She gestures toward the hole in the floor. “That happened when I slammed her into the ground. I don’t know where she is.” 

Steve nods. He steadies himself on one of the ropes and pulls himself up to standing. Diana stands with him and he hugs her. “I’m really sorry,” he says. “I should’ve just talked to you. It’s been a pretty crummy couple of days, hasn’t it?” Diana doesn’t reply right away, but her breath is even and deep. He kisses the top of her head and twists some of her hair into his loose fist. “I won’t push you away anymore” he promises. “I was…” he doesn’t finish the thought because her mouth is on his. It is *her* kiss, her soft, strong mouth, her sharp little teeth, her deceptively delicate face against his and he surrenders. When they stop kissing, they press their brows together. She whispers, “You ridiculous man. Never forget love. Never forget that love is everything.” His eyes are closed but he feels her cold tears creep down his face, over the bridge of his nose. He’s a moron and she, as usual, is right. “When this is all over we are going on vacation,” he hears himself promise. We are getting so far away from here. I don’t even care if it’s Themyscira; you and I need to be off the grid.” 

He opens his eyes and Diana is in her street clothes again. He fumbles in a pocket for a handkerchief and then wipes her tears away. “Let’s just go home for now,” she tells him. He hops out of the ring and guides her down next to him. She takes his offered arm and says, “Right now, home and dinner and a shower, and just being with you are perfect. Take me home.” One thing Steve Rogers is very good at is following orders from a trusted commander. They take the more circuitous back way out of the building and around to where the motorcycle is parked. He takes his wife home.


End file.
